Water tunnel forces garden shut for 3 years

The construction of an underground water tunnel has kept the gates of the Seth Tulsidas Kilachand Garden in Walkeshwar shut for over three years. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had delayed the work on the tunnel, which is 6-km-long, and 2,200-mm-wide stretching from Malabar Hill to Cross Maidan via SK Patil Udyan. The work is now in its final stage.

Seth Tulsidas Kilachand Garden is in a decrepit state after being shut for over three years and needs to be redeveloped before opening again. Pic/Bipin Kokate

The tunnel work is part of the BMC’s drive to replace old pipelines and the work should have been completed by 2012. Sources in the BMC revealed that it might take another six months to throw open the garden after the tunnel work is over and the garden is redeveloped.

Garden superintendent Vijay Hire said, “We have been working on this and the water pipeline work is now over. We are aware that the residents need to have a garden. We are trying our level best to start the redevelopment of Seth Tulsidas Kilachand Garden.” Laxmidas Modi, a resident of Malabar Hill, said, “The shutdown of the garden has hit us as it was the only place where we went to walk. My child who is 6 years old used to play there daily. We hope that this garden starts soon.”